Better Late Than Never
by grapefritters
Summary: When Finn's life in New York seems to be at a dead end, someone comes back into his life and things start making sense again.
1. Chapter One

_Better Late Than Never_ - Chapter One

Finn/Brittany

**A/N:** This is my first multi-chapter fic, so any and all feedback is appreciated. I will shoot for posting once a week or so.

* * *

"Finn? Finn, are you awake?"

That was the first thing he heard as his eyes slowly opened and he glanced at the alarm clock next to his bed, noting that it was 6:45 in the morning. _6:45_. He didn't even remember the phone ringing, but he woke up with his phone in his hand and Rachel's voice in his ear. That actually wasn't anything new.

"Yeah, I am now," he said as he rolled over onto his side and brought a hand up to wipe lazily at his mouth. "What's going on? You okay?"

"I was hoping that you could do something for me today," she said quickly before pausing and adding, "Actually, it's for Caroline."

Caroline Puckerman was kind of his niece in a really weird 'I used to date your mom and your dad had sex with one of my exes but now we're all totally great friends and kind of like family so I'm your uncle' kind of way, but she was the most awesome kid ever. And Rachel knew exactly how to get him to do things. If it was for Caroline, it was pretty much guaranteed to be a yes. Like the time he dressed up as the clown for her 5th birthday because Rachel didn't want to risk any sort of criminal acts going on. But he didn't even like clowns. He'd kept a baseball bat by his bed until he was in college because of the fear of evil clowns coming out of the closet or the TV or something and trying to eat him. At least he learned how to make a few animal balloons out of that. Those were always cool.

"I have a prenatal appointment this morning and there's no way I can get Caroline to dance class and then get to the doctor's office on time. If you could just drop her off and pick her up, then keep her at your place until I'm able to come get her, that would be absolutely wonderful, Finn." Rachel paused again, probably waiting for a reaction out of him, so he grunted and nodded his head even though she couldn't see him. "I've already told her dance instructor to expect you and not Noah or me and she won't make any sort of fuss about it."

"Okay," he managed after a moment, pushing himself up into a seated position and yawning loudly. "What time?"

=/=

"I'm so happy you're taking me today, Uncle Finn!" Caroline gripped his hand as they walked to the dance studio and he pushed the door open for them. He had fallen asleep after getting off the phone with Rachel and picked Caroline up 5 minutes late. The glare Rachel sent him when she opened the apartment door told him not to fall asleep again after agreeing to do something for her. Being late, he had been learning since he was 16, was a huge no-no in Rachel Berry-Puckerman's eyes.

"Mommy told me to make sure you talk to the instructor before you leave," Caroline said, tugging at his hand and causing him to look down at her. "I don't think she wanted me to tell you that for some reason. But daddy said to make sure you don't say anything stupid, so I think they probably wanted you to know so you don't do anything."

Furrowing his brow, Finn scoffed slightly as she stopped him outside the door of the studio for her level. "My teacher's really nice." Nodding excitedly, the girl smiled a smile that reminded him too much of her father before she skipped into the room. He followed after her and pushed his hands into his pockets as he looked around the room full of twirling children and talking dance parents. Dance had never been his strong suit and sometimes being in rooms with people who were good at it made him nervous. It was like they would just know what his dancing was like and make him show them or something.

"Um, which one's your teacher? I'll just go tell her I'll be back for you, I guess."

Caroline looked up from her bag and glanced around the room before pointing toward the far wall and then immediately disappearing into a group of children. He turned and followed the direction she had pointed and his eyes landed on a tall blonde woman, or the back of her. She was dressed in a bright pink leotard and her legs were super long, making it just a little difficult to look away. Before he could embarrass himself or anything, he made his way over to her before stopping short at the sound of her voice as she spoke to some parent or nanny or someone. Tilting his head, he furrowed his brow as he listened and tried to place it. He knew that voice, but he had never been to Caroline's dance studio before so it couldn't have been from that. When she turned around, he looked at her with wide eyes. She matched his expression before suddenly wrapping her arms around his neck and bouncing against him.

"Finn! Hi!"

When she pulled away, he smiled and was face to face with Brittany Pierce for the first time since Puck and Rachel's wedding like 8 years before.

"Hey, Britt. I didn't know you were Caroline's teacher." Bringing a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck, he added, "I didn't even know you were in New York now actually." He felt kind of bad about that, like maybe he hadn't kept in contact with enough people or seemed like he didn't care, but he really just didn't know. If his mom or Rachel didn't tell him things, he kind of just didn't find out about much.

"I haven't been for very long really, but I knew you were here. Rachel has told me tons of times and she told me you were bringing Caroline today, but I totally forgot." She nodded quickly and bounced excitedly again before hugging him. "This is so exciting."

This time he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. It really was awesome seeing the blonde and lately he had kind of been in this funk or something because he was in New York doing nothing. He had stayed after college because he had actually been employed at the time. Now, though, he didn't know why he was still there, but her happiness caused him to smile widely.

"It's awesome," he responded after a moment. He was suddenly getting really nervous standing there as he noticed that there were a few people watching them curiously. "I guess I'll just get going and be back after class," he said slowly, backing up a couple of steps. "It was awesome to see you again, Britt."

Lifting a hand, Brittany smiled and waved before turning to the group of children. He couldn't help but stand in the doorway for a few minutes as she began the class. He had caught himself staring at her a lot in glee when she danced and it was like he was back there all over again. It wasn't a bad thing.


	2. Chapter Two

_Better Late Than Never_ - Chapter Two

Finn/Brittany

**A/N:** Thank you to those of you who left feedback, followed, or favorited the fic, and thanks for reading! When it comes to Finn and Brittany, I really don't get why there isn't more for them either. This chapter is a bit longer than chapter one. My goal is at least 1,000 words a chapter, but hopefully some of them will be pretty lengthy later on. Again, any sort of feedback is appreciated.

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"Uncle Finn!" Caroline exclaimed when he walked into the dance studio later that day to pick her up, running toward him before leaping up and grabbing onto his waist. "Miss Brittany said I was one of the best in her class." She grinned up at him and he couldn't help but smile back as she jumped back to the floor and grabbed his hand. Then he was looking around for Brittany and Caroline pulled him over to where she was standing.

"I did say that." Brittany laughed softly and patted the girl's head before looking up at him. "Hi, Finn. She told me she was really excited for you to come pick her up. Do you do that a lot?" She tilted her head and Finn nodded his slowly, suddenly unable to talk.

He heard Caroline giggle and he looked down in time to see her letting go of his hand and walking over to her bag. Looking back at Brittany, he brought a hand up to the back of his neck and he nervously rubbed at it. Why was he nervous?

"Um, yeah, pretty much whenever Rach or Puck can't do it. Sometimes Caroline asks me, though, and I can't really say no to that." He let out a laugh when Brittany did and they both looked at the brunette girl packing up her things and looking at them.

"She's so cute," Brittany said as she looked back at him and he turned his attention back to the blonde woman in front of him. "You should come more. I think she really enjoys it. I saw the way she got up and ran over to you even though I was still talking."

Finn opened his mouth to apologize for distracting the class and she shrugged, placing a hand on his arm before looking over his shoulder as the door opened. "It's fine, Finn. I was glad to see you again, too." She smiled softly and then let go of his arm. "I should go say bye to everyone else. I hope I get to see you again soon."

"Yeah. I'll bring Caroline again especially with Rachel pregnant. She's a lot busier now." Before he could say anything else, even if he had no idea what it would even be, Brittany nodded and smiled, walking around him to greet some parents. He stood there for a moment before walking over to Caroline, letting the girl climb onto his back before they left the studio with a smile and wave to Brittany on their way out.

=/=

Something about seeing Brittany again caused him to toss and turn a lot that night. He wasn't sure if seeing her reminded him of Lima or if it was something completely different. All he knew was that he didn't sleep much, which never really happened because he could sleep for 12 hours straight, and ended up awake in the middle of the night watching dance competition shows. None of the dancers were Brittany, though, not even close.

He stared at his alarm clock from 6:45 to 7 o'clock the next morning, waiting for Rachel to call and ask if he would take Caroline to dance class again. At 7:10 he picked up the phone and checked the dial tone before quickly putting it back on the receiver. The phone worked.

After forcing himself to get out of bed and take a shower 30 minutes later, he realized that all night he had been thinking of Brittany. It was weird and completely confusing, but it felt good to have something in his head that wasn't about how much of a loser he felt like he was in New York.

=/=

The rest of the week went by pretty normally, at least what normal was for him now. He went on a few job interviews, felt good about half of them, lost out on all of them, and started all over again. It sucked, but he still had these thoughts about Brittany in his head that made everything feel better. He saw her smile or heard her laugh and it just helped him through what had been pretty depressing in the past few months.

At the start of the next week, with several job interviews scheduled, he waited again for Rachel to call him on Monday morning. But she didn't and so he went on with his usual day.

It wasn't hard until Wednesday when he picked up his own phone at 7:30 and called Rachel himself.

"Hey," he started as soon as she answered the phone, sitting at his kitchen table and taking a deep breath. "Do you need me to take or pick Caroline up today? I thought maybe I could help you out or something, if you need it."

He waited a few moments until Rachel finally said, "Sure. How about you pick her up and then bring her home by 3?"

"Got it. I'll get her home by 3 and make sure she doesn't eat too much ice cream this time." He chuckled and grinned when Rachel went off on a rant about dairy and her baby girl's vocal cords.

=/=

"Finn? What are you doing here?" Brittany asked him as he walked into the dance studio, purposefully a few minutes after classes were over. He looked around and he felt panic rush through him when he didn't see Caroline before he looked at Brittany.

"Where is she?" The blonde was shaking her head quickly and walking over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Puck picked her up like 10 minutes ago."

Finn let out a heavy breath and closed his eyes, waiting for his heart rate to return to normal before opening his eyes and looking at Brittany. He had kind of just accused her of letting Caroline go with someone she wasn't supposed to, hadn't he? Looking at her, he bit his lip before releasing it and saying, "Sorry. Of course you'd only let her go with Puck or Rach or me. I thought I was supposed to get her today. I talked to Rachel this morning and everything."

"It's okay, Finn. I have had a problem a couple of times forgetting faces, but I've never actually let any kid leave with a stranger." Brittany smiled softly and walked over to a bench against the wall and began putting on her tennis shoes.

Finn followed after her and sat down.

"Puck didn't say anything about you coming to get her today, so I guess he didn't know or Rachel forgot or something. She's safe, though."

He nodded and smiled over at her, relaxing against the wall of mirrors and stretching his legs out in front of him. "So, how do you like New York?"

"I love it. I think I could do this in Lima and be closer to my parents and sister, but New York has been really great. And it's not really that far from Ohio, you know? I can take vacations."

"I get that," Finn replied, nodding and thinking about his mom and Burt being in Lima. Kurt was in New York a lot of the time, sometimes other places, but other than Rachel and Puck and Caroline, his family was still back home.

They were silent for a few minutes as she stood up stepped into a skirt to cover up the bottom part of her leotard and a t-shirt. He looked away while she did that, but the walls were made of mostly mirrors and it was kind of hard not to watch just a little bit. He was acting like a sixteen year old again.

"Do you want to get a coffee?" He asked suddenly, standing and looking at her when she was finished dressing. "If you drink coffee." Since he hadn't been sleeping too much, he definitely needed it a few times a day, but he wasn't sure if Brittany did. She was already kind of… awake all the time.

"There's a place I love on the corner. Do you want to go there?"

"I'm up for anything," he said, smiling at her and opening the door as they walked out. She locked the studio door and then wrapped her arm around his and he found himself smiling again. He'd been doing that a lot lately.


	3. Chapter Three

_Better Late Than Never_ - Chapter Three

Finn/Brittany

**A/N:** Once again, thank you so much reviews, likes, and follows. We're getting into more interaction between Finn and Brittany. I'm very excited about that. I love writing them and I hope that you all enjoy it!

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Finn laughed softly when Brittany reached across the table and pinched off a piece of his peanut butter cookie. It was cool that she wasn't afraid to act a little silly even if they were both supposed to be adults now. He was still having some trouble with that concept himself.

"Thank you!" Brittany winked playfully at him once she popped the piece of cookie into her mouth.

Hanging out with he was even better than he'd expected and it made him wonder why they'd never hung out in high school. Aside from a really terrible date with her and Santana, he'd never really seen the girl outside of school or New Directions and they had kind of been part of the popular crowd together for a while. It probably had a lot to do with him being involved with Quinn and Rachel and all the drama surrounding that for a while. But sitting across from her at a small table at a cafe down the street from the dance studio, he realized just how interesting and cool she was to talk to. Talking to her felt easy and almost like they'd been friends who had actually been talking for years. They'd already been there for an hour and hadn't even gotten that far into their conversation. So far, all they'd talked about was how they were both single and he knew that she'd been in New York for exactly ten months and was very happy that she'd decided to come by herself because it was the first time she felt independent.

How they'd missed each other for almost a year was beyond him, but Finn was glad that finally he'd found out that she was around.

Looking at her, he nodded and asked, "Do you feel independent because your parents aren't here? I feel that way sometimes."

Brittany shook her head and furrowed her brow in thought before meeting his eyes.

"When I was with Santana, even though I really felt like I loved her, it was all about her." She shrugged as she stirred a spoon around in her coffee and looked across the table at him. "Like in high school, she was dealing with liking girls and it was always about whether or not she was ready to really be with me out in the open. And then no one really cared if I graduated, you know? Not even her. It kind of sucked that she didn't even ask if I ever needed help and I know it was kind of obvious."

She shrugged again before a small grin appeared, taking place of the small frown that he been there just moments before. "You saw my square root notes, Finn, the one with the rainbow drawing. You cheated off me."

With her grinning at him, Finn chuckled. "Guilty. It made sense at the time. And the drawings were more interesting than numbers. Math sucks."

Rolling her eyes playfully, Brittany took a small bite of her raspberry muffin. Once she swallowed the bite, she continued, "So once I graduated after you guys, I finally decided that I wanted to be single again and I went to school by myself and figured out everything all on my own."

Finn could tell just by looking at her eyes that feeling like no one cared had hurt her and in a way he really understood that, too. But she'd done everything alone and succeeded. That was awesome to him. She had become a teacher and was living in New York by herself. She was obviously more independent than she had been in high school. Hell, she was even more independent than him considering how much time he spent at the Puckerman apartment. She seemed to have grown up the way they were all supposed to.

"You did a good job, Britt, doing all of this alone. That's awesome. I bet your parents are proud." Nodding slowly, he brought his drink up to his lips and took a long sip before putting it back on the table and saying, "You know, what you were saying about you and Santana not really being about you, it was kind of like that with me and Rach. I mean, I'm happy we tried and we're totally good friends now and it's awesome and not even weird or anything, but she was always coming here and I was just kind of being pulled along. There was really nothing I was good at it and I didn't have a huge dream like she did. It took me awhile to get used to being here and being in college here, but I decided to stay because I like it. I like the city a lot more than I thought I would.." He shrugged and sent her a soft smile. "And they're kind of my family, especially Caroline. It'd be extremely hard to leave now, you know?"

When Brittany smiled widely and nodded at him, he knew he'd said something right and that made him feel awesome. She'd been making him feel that way since the moment she'd smiled over her shoulder at him in thanks when he held the door open for her once they'd arrived at the cafe.

"Caroline really loves her Uncle Finn," Brittany said with a large smile. "She talks about you a lot more than you probably think. If I ask her what she's doing when class is over, she gets this excited look on her face and says that she hopes she gets to play with you later. She said tea time was her favorite. She would be sad if you left."

Finn chuckled at the thought, not even a little embarrassed that the woman across from him knew that he played tea with a little girl and her stuffed animals. At least she didn't know that he had named a lot of them with her.

"I'm not really sure if I ever could." He shrugged before sighing softly. It was expensive to live in New York. His apartment might not have been the most extravagant, but it still wasn't cheap and sometimes he barely managed to get by during the month one he'd paid bills and his rent and bought groceries for a couple of weeks. But if he went back to Lima right now without anything to show for it, with his tail between his legs, he would feel like a complete failure. "I've been applying to tons of office jobs, but they don't feel like me, you know? They never hire me anyway."

A lot of nights, Finn found himself at Puck and Rachel's house eating dinner with them and coloring with Caroline until it was time for her bath and bedtime. It was nice most of the time, but he didn't want to be that guy. He wanted his own family one day and he really couldn't do that if he didn't even have a way to support himself.

Brittany reached over and placed her hand on top of his. "I'll help you find the perfect job for you, Finny." Tilting her head to the side, he was a little distracted by the way she screwed up her nose in thought and he couldn't even respond. When she looked back at him, she smiled widely. "I think I already have the best idea ever!" He could see the optimism in the way she smiled and hear it in her voice, so he nodded slowly.

"As long as it's not some dancing job, I think I could try anything." Smiling back over at her, he nodded again and settled back in his seat. She giggled softly and winked at him before he shook his head. Yeah, there was something about Brittany that made him feel like maybe things in New York were looking up.

Bobbing his head in agreement again, he smiled thankfully over at her. "Thanks, Brittany. I can't think of anyone else who could help me."

He had no idea what she had in mind, but he thought she might have understood what he was going through. Now she was a success story, at least in his eyes, and he thought she could definitely help him out. He was up for anything as long as she was by his side throughout it.

=/=

"This is my apartment." Brittany turned her head to look at him as they reached an apartment building he'd walked past a few of the times he had brought or picked Caroline up from dance class and he chuckled.

"Can't believe this is yours. I had no idea you were in there the whole time."

Once they'd finished their coffees, they'd sat in the coffee shop for about 30 more minutes before Brittany said that she needed to head home and she wanted to show him where she lived. So he didn't get lost the next day, she said, and he was totally up for walking her and making sure that she got home alright. It was already pretty dark by the time they were finished and he didn't want to walk alone.

"Thanks for walking me home," she said, snapping him out of his thoughts and removing her arm from his. Taking her keys out of her pocket, she lifted up onto her tiptoes and pecked his cheek before walking to the front door of the building. "Don't forget to be here first thing tomorrow morning, Finn. If you're late, the deal is off."

A little surprised by her words, Finn looked at her with slightly wide eyes. But she she started giggling and shook her head.

"I'm kidding. But try not to be too late if you are."

He laughed and nodded before lifting his hand to wave at her.

"Okay. I promise I'll be here tomorrow first thing. See you later. "

"Bye!"

Once she'd waved at him and walked into the building, he stood there like an idiot with a grin on his face. Things just felt good and, even if he had to wake up kind of early the next morning, he was looking forward to it.


	4. Chapter Four

_Better Late Than Never_ - Chapter Four

Finn/Brittany

**A/N: **Thanks once again for feedback and follows. I want to apologize for this chapter being posted a bit later than I'd intended, but I decided to add a bit more to it and I wanted to be sure it was perfect before posting it. I've added some text messages to this chapter and I really hope that the format I've chosen is easy to follow. If not, I'm open to suggestions when it comes to the format for that. As usual, any feedback is appreciated and definitely encourages me to write more. Enjoy!

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Waking up the next morning was easier than usual because he knew that he wasn't going to some job interview in a shirt that suffocated him. He was going to Brittany's apartment and that was totally a better idea.

On the way to her apartment, Finn found himself even more excited than he'd expected. Not only was he hopefully going to have a job soon, but it was going to be awesome to hang out with Brittany again. They'd never really done much of it in high school outside of groups and glee club. Talking to her at the coffee shop, though, had been awesome and made him feel like he wasn't a complete failure. Sure, Rachel and Puck didn't seem to think it either, but they were practically part of his family. They kind of had to pretend everything was okay and he was smart enough to see that. Brittany, though, she didn't have to think his life was decent. That was just what she thought and that made him feel really good. Her optimism was just contagious.

He didn't know how long they were going to be talking about job stuff, but he did know that donuts were kind of a thing that people ate during business meetings. So when he spotted a bakery a block away from Brittany's apartment, he stopped and picked up some for them. Maybe it was a little weird, but he hoped that she understood why he did it. Plus, he liked the ones filled with custard and hadn't eaten anything yet, so he couldn't walk by the place without going in and getting one.

When he got to her apartment, he smiled as he knocked on the door and waited for her to open it.

He heard the locks being unlocked on the other side and then she was opening the door with a huge smile on her face. "Hi! Come in," she said as she opened the door a little wider and motioned him in. Her eyes fell on the box in his hands before she looked back at his face "Is that a box of donuts?"

Finn could have sworn that her blue eyes lit up even brighter than usual at that and he felt so awesome for getting the idea. He knew that donuts were a good idea for job stuff.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be, like, business-like or something if we had donuts while we talked." He shrugged a shoulder and started to look around the small apartment while she shut the door. "This is a really nice place, Britt."

"Thanks." Brittany walked over to him and held her hands out for the box so he handed it over to her and watched as she walked into the attached kitchen. It took him a moment before he followed her in.

Turning around and looking at him, she smiled. "Do you want something to drink? Milk? Water? I would say beer, but that sounds kind of weird with donuts and it's early. I don't need you drinking on the job hunt." Brittany giggled before grabbing two glasses.

Finn was a little caught up in looking at the things she had on her refrigerator before smiling at her comment. "Water sounds good. I'll leave the drinking until later."

Once Brittany had filled two glasses of water, she put them on the small table then grabbed two dessert plates and napkins. "Sit," she said and pulled out her own chair before sitting down.

Finn did the same and that was when he noticed all of the things that were on the table. Her laptop was on the other end by a folded newspaper and a notebook with a few different colored pens on top of it. She had really set all of that up just to help him. He smiled slightly and took a donut out of the box once she did before he looked back over at her.

"I really appreciate this, Britt." They hadn't even started and he was already wondering if there was some way he would be able to repay her. Even if it didn't work out and he didn't get a job anytime soon. No one had ever done anything like this for him, not since he was a teenager in need of a job for a girl he thought was having his baby. Shaking his head of the thought, he asked, "So, what's your idea?"

Lifting the donut to his mouth, he took a big bite and looked at her expectantly.

"Finn, get ready for the best idea ever." Brittany's eyes widened and she nodded enthusiastically before exclaiming, "Drum teacher!"

"Whoa," Finn said lowly as he realized a few things all at once. One, Brittany was really excited and it was adorable the way her eyes sparkled and her voice was a little higher. Two, she seemed to know what sort of thing he'd really like to do. Three, and this was the biggest one, he hadn't even thought of that. For so long, he had just felt like a loser and a failure for not having a job. He wasn't even sure when he'd stopped thinking about what he actually wanted to do.

Brittany was looking at him expectantly and when he didn't say anything else, her expression turned from excited to worried. "Is that a bad idea?" She asked after a moment, catching her lower lip between her teeth and frowning at him. "I just thought that since you always knew, like, every song on your drums in glee that you'd like to teach other people how to play."

Finn shook his head quickly. He hated that he had made her feel like her idea wasn't good because it was awesome.

"No, Britt, that's the best idea I've ever heard. I like it a lot. I was just thinking about how awesome it is."

Brittany smiled at him again before reaching for her laptop and pulling it over between them. Moving her chair a little closer to him, she turned the computer so they could both see it. "We're going to make a list of places around here that teach music. Maybe some of them will need a drum teacher."

Finn smiled to himself as they started to find schools and music centers in the area, him in charge of writing down their information, both pretty quiet while they were busy. Once they had about ten places picked out, he had to ask her how she knew so much about job hunting.

"I'm a dance teacher, Finn," she said with a smile over at him. "This is exactly what I did and someone had to help me. I'm doing the same. I'm being like a job search teacher."

"You're the best teacher I've ever had."

Brittany giggled, causing him to smile widely before she was moving to put their plates away in the sink. "I'm happy I could help. I hope that it really does work, Finn. You were always the best drummer we had in glee, even better than that guy who was actually in the band, and I could always tell you liked it. It's like a gift. I can tell when people really love what they're doing, like I love dancing."

As he stood from the table, he smiled and nodded. "I do really love it. I've never really taught anyone how to play, but I think I'd really like to. That was something I hadn't even thought of."

Brittany stepped over to him. "What if I'm your first student? I've never been able to play an instrument, but I did kind of try to play the drums for the Fondue for Two opening song. I didn't know what was I doing, though, but it'd be cool to learn how to play some songs. Do you still have drums?"

"Yeah, I have a set in my apartment. Sometimes they get in the way, but I can't get rid of them." He shrugged. It would have been too hard to get rid of them. He had tried once when he needed some money for bills, but they were his prized possession. He couldn't play them too much because of his neighbors complaining when he got caught up and played for hours into the night, but he was not going to let this opportunity pass him by. They could both learn from it. "I'll totally teach you."

He was caught by surprise when Brittany hugged him, way too fast for him to hug her back, but he was excited, too. Her idea had been the best one for him and hopefully he was going to find a job because of it.

"I'm so excited!" She squealed as she pulled back before handing him the notebook with all the information. "I want you to go to all of these places and tell them that you're interested. Someone is going to have the perfect place for you, I just know it." With her smiling up at him, Finn was feeling more confident by the second.

"That sounds really awesome, Britt. I can't wait for a job and to teach you."

"I can't wait either. It was always kind of hot that you knew all the songs." She shrugged and then walked over to the couch as if she hadn't even said that. But that was kind of Brittany, wasn't it? He liked that. She wasn't as serious as everyone else and he liked being around her.

Moving to the couch, he sat down next to her and put the notebook on the coffee table before focusing on the television. It had been a while since he'd watched television or hung out with someone who wasn't Puck, Rachel, or Caroline, which was probably weird to other people since he was an adult, and it was cool that they could just sit there without even talking. He wondered what it would have been like if they'd hung out in high school, but he knew they had both had a lot of drama going on then with relationships. They probably wouldn't have even been able to hang out during all of that. He knew that his time was full of football and girls and glee club, way too busy with all that craziness to even be able to focus on friendships.

"I'm glad you're in New York," he said suddenly, looking over at her and smiling crookedly. Brittany turned her head and smiled happily.

"I'm glad, too. I'm glad you're still here. If you'd left, we wouldn't be able to hang out and that would really suck."

Finn nodded and they both went back to watching television. It really would have sucked because this was awesome already. He felt more mature just hanging out with her, his entire attitude about the city and jobs had changed because of her, and he wasn't sure if there was anyone in Lima that would have been able to do that. Looking over at her, he smiled to himself. Yeah, things were totally going to get better and he was going to have to repay Brittany one day.

They were going to be really good friends.

=/=

Finn was half asleep later that night when his phone dinged, signaling that a text message had just been sent. Rolling over, he grabbed it and opened up the message.

_Hey. It's me. It's Brittany S. Pierce. Is this Finn?_

With a small chuckle, he sat up and typed up a response. She was pretty cute. He'd given her his number, but she still asked if it was him on the other end, and the way she introduced herself was in a way no one else ever did. .

_Hey, Britt. Yeah, it's me. What's up?_

_I just wanted to tell you good luck._

_Thanks. I'm gonna need it._

Finn smiled as he settled into his pillows and waited for her next reply, smiling even more when it came through.

_Good luck times the biggest number ever._

Before he could send another text to her, his phone sounded again and he unlocked it to look at the text waiting for him.

_I think that's infinity. I saw it once on a necklace. It looks like an 8, but it's not. Guess it means forever, so good luck times forever._

_That's a lot of luck, Britt. Sure I deserve that much?_

_Totally! But I don't think you'll actually need that much. You're awesome. I never told you in high school, but I thought it was cool that you could play. How'd you learn?_

The fact that she acknowledged that she hadn't told him in high school caused another smile to form on his lips. And she wanted to know more about his favorite thing in the world, so that was cool.

_I learned when I was little. I guess I was about 7 or something._

_That's really young. I started dancing when I was like 2 or 3. I don't even remember the first time, but I remember that it's something I've always done._

_So you're one of those people who started dancing almost as soon as they could walk, huh?_

_Yep! That's probably why I'm really awesome at it, but sometimes I run into things when I'm just walking._

Laughing loudly, Finn could almost see her face in his head. He imagined she had a really adorable expression on her face right then.

_And I just can't dance or walk. My legs are too long. I'm like a giant._

_You just have to learn how to move your hips more, but tall can be hot. Anyway, it's getting late and I have a class in the morning. And you have a job to go find. Good luck times infinity. Night, Finn._

Finn knew that the smile on his face was completely permanent now as he messaged her one last time before putting his phone away and closed his eyes again, falling asleep easily.

_Thanks times infinity, Britt. Good night._


	5. Chapter Five

_Better Late Than Never _- Chapter Five

Finn/Brittany

* * *

"You should try it now," Finn said as he stood from the drum set in his living room and motioned for Brittany to sit down. "I'll help you out. Just get comfortable."

He stepped back when Brittany walked over and sat down, watching as she picked up the drum sticks. She tilted her head back to look at him.

"Now what?"

"I guess you probably can't play what I just did, but try to get a beat going. See what comes naturally."

Finn had spent the last half an hour or so telling Brittany everything he knew about drums and playing a few different things and it was finally her turn. He wasn't sure if he'd be the best teacher, but talking to her had reminded him how much he loved the instrument. And he actually knew a lot more than people thought. He could only hope that that would help him get a job.

Leaning over, he placed his hands on one of hers and guided her fingers to hold the stick correctly before moving to her other hand. "There," he said as her moved her other fingers to grip the drum stick. "It's a little easier if you hold them like this. This is the way I hold them. Most people hold them like this, too."

Brittany nodded and he could feel her head move against his bicep since he still had his hand on hers. Pulling back, he waited for her to begin.

When she didn't move, Finn chuckled softly. "Okay, I'm going to count. Every time I say a number, you use this drum stick." He leaned forward again and tapped the back of her right hand gently before pulling back and crossing his arms.

"One," he began slowly, smiling slightly when she hit the drum once and then turned around on the stoole with an excited grin.

"Two?" She asked excitedly, bouncing on the stool and spinning back around to face it.

"And two and three and -" He continued on until he reached the number ten.

Brittany stopped and asked, "Was I any good?"

"You were awesome, Britt!" Finn exclaimed. He walked around the drums nd sat down on the coffee table. "Wanna go some more?"

At Brittany's nod, Finn clapped his hands together once and smiled at her. "You look like a natural behind that set, by the way. This time, when I get to the even number, hit the drum with the stick in your left hand. Okay?"

She nodded and he placed his hands on his knees before beginning to count again.

Her concentration as she hit the drum and got into a rhythm with his guidance impressed him, but it was mostly the way she was obviously into playing. It was just cool to watch that and know that he had taught her how to start. It could take months or even years before she could really play, but he was completely up for helping her out if she enjoyed it. After a few minutes of playing, she stopped and looked up at him with eyes shining with pride

"You're awesome at this, Britt. Want to try the pedal now?"

At Brittany's excited nod, Finn's smile somehow widened.

"Alright, let's go."

Brittany was a pro. Seriously, she was a natural at it and he didn't know if it was her or his teaching. Maybe a little of both. He hoped that his teaching at least had something to do with it. After a few more times of him counting, she started counting along with him and it was almost as mesmerizing as when she danced.

They fell into another rhythm in just a few minutes and he stopped counting, watching the way she bit her lip as she drummed and how her head moved in time. He had watched her a lot in glee and sometimes on the football field, but watching her now was a little different. They were older, different, and she wasn't in a Cheerios uniform anymore. Her hair was different, no longer up the way she used to wear it. It wasn't up in one of those ballerina buns either like it had been when he saw her in her classroom. It was down around her shoulders and curled. She looked beautiful.

He barely noticed that she'd stopped and was watching him stare at her before she stood up, walking around the set and coming to sit down on the couch across from him. Their knees barely touched and he swallowed a little roughly at the contact.

"Do you want water or something?" He asked, his throat suddenly dry. There was something about sitting there like that paired with his earlier thoughts that had him nervous. They were older, single, not connected to other people for once and, if Finn was being honest with himself, there had always been something about Brittany that was extremely magnetic. He'd felt that again the first time he stepped into her dance class.

Brittany nodded and he stood up quickly, trying to push the thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn't need to think like that about his friend. Friends. That was it.

Making a hasty exit to his kitchen, he swallowed a few times and grabbed two glasses before filling them with ice and water.

"Thanks for teaching me, Finn. We'll have to do it again if you think I'm good."

Finn spun around with one of glasses in his hand, spilling a bit of the water onto the tile floor in the process.

"Shit," he muttered and set the glass on the counter. Grabbing a towel, he crouched down and started wiping the water up.

"Did I scare you?" There was a hint of amusement in Brittany's words and he looked up to see her face right there in front of his. "Sorry."

She reached for the rag and her fingers slid across his hand before he lowered his eyes and watched her continue cleaning the floor.

"Um, oh, it's okay. Just thinking." Looking back at her, he smiled slightly. "I'll totally teach you more, Britt. You were really great. I mean that. It might take a few months, but I'm up for it if you are."

His grin widened at the thought of possibly teaching her even more.

Brittany nodded and stood up and he followed, looking down at her.

"Sound good?"

"I would love that. Is there anything I can teach you?" She shrugged her shoulders and he picked up his water glass before taking a long sip. His mind was turning on him. Her words were completing innocent, sweet, and he was standing there thinking like a pervert.

Finn chuckled nervously. He put the glass back down and ran a hand over the back of his neck.

"I dunno. You tried to teach me how to dance a few times in glee, and I don't know if that really worked," he said with a laugh.

Brittany smiled and stepped toward him, taking the other glass and drinking a bit before putting it back on the counter

Before he knew what was happening, she was taking his hands and pulling him back into the living room.

"I think you just need a little more practice," she said guiding his hands to her hips.

He resisted the urge to squeeze her hips and bring her closer, instead taking a deep breath through his nose.

"It's pretty crazy that you aren't an awesome dancer actually." Brittany said, winding her arms around his neck. "You're a drummer, you know? You just need to figure out the rhythm of a song."

Finn nodded dumbly, no idea whatsoever of what he was supposed to do. He was comfortable behind a drum set. It was so much easier than concentrating on dancing with Brittany that close to him, especially when his mind was reeling with thoughts of her and how beautiful she was, how good she felt.

"Right," he said, catching his bottom lip between his teeth. "But there's no music playing."

Brittany smiled at him, like she was happy he'd mentioned that or something.

"Exactly! So we make the beat on our own."

Lifting his eyebrow at those words, Finn had to keep his mouth shut. There was definitely a way they could make a beat of their own. He didn't even know why he was thinking like that exactly. He wasn't that guy.

He nodded again and looked down at his feet. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. It wasn't like he'd never danced before. They had even been partnered up several times. Of course, he'd always looked like a dope next to her, but if she thought he had it in him, he couldn't really say no to dancing with her.

Thinking of a slow beat in his head, Finn began to move his feet. Brittany smiled and followed. It didn't take too much longer for him to feel a little more confidence and he met her eyes, matching her smile.

"See? You can do it."

"Yeah, I guess I can. You're the best dance teacher in the world if you can get me to dance."

He looked at her with a goofy grin and suddenly moved them to turn around a bit, sliding a hand to her lower back. The movement brought her a little closer to his body.

The way she looked at him then showed him that the dance had just changed, and he knew he wasn't imagining the way her pupils expanded. Or the way her breath hitched just slightly.

"Britt," he breathed out, flicking his eyes to her lips.

It had been so long since he'd touched a woman like this, even kissed a girl or thought about it, and it was too difficult to ignore it with her. She was pretty and fit against him just right.

Brittany swallowed and looked at him, tightening her arms around his neck, pulling him a little closer in the process.

He leaned toward her, dipping his head and watching her eyes flutter closed. Closing his own, he moved to meet her lips, anticipating that moment that their lips touched for the first time. It was like time was going way too slow as he closed the space between their lips, but suddenly his lips were meeting her forehead and his eyes popped open.

"I'm sorry," Brittany said softly and pulled back and away from him. "I wanted you to."

Finn was left there to stare at her in confusion. He was an idiot. He shouldn't have done that.

"I did," she continued, looking down at her hands for a moment before glancing back at him. "I was just... I know that if we kiss right now, it will end with us in your bed. And that's not what I want."

Finn let out a breath and nodded slowly.

She stepped back up to him and he had to stuff his hands in his pockets to keep himself from touching her or something.

"Not that we wouldn't be totally hot, but I was kind of this girl in high school. I want to be an adult now. No random make outs, no one night stands, no ruining my friendship with someone."

Looking at her, Finn couldn't help but nod again. He kind of understood. Not completely, but enough to not be too offended. It wasn't that she didn't want to. She just didn't want to mess things up.

"Okay. I shouldn't have even tried, but I was-" He paused and wondered if he should even think of telling her what was going on in his head. "I was just thinking things I shouldn't have, but I wasn't expecting anything. A kiss was all I wanted."

The smile that formed on Brittany's face made it way too difficult to not smile himself and it almost seemed like things were okay. Not forgotten, he certainly wouldn't forget for a long time, but no ruined friendship.

"I know what it's like to ruin a friendship with someone, so I get it. We're good." Smiling a little wider, he patted her arm. "Are we still up for more drum lessons?"

Brittany nodded and he relaxed a little bit. He could deal with it and just be friends and her teacher. Having her as a friend had already made his life better. He wasn't going to do anything to ruin that. He would just have to get idea of kissing her out of his head.


	6. Chapter Six

_Better Late Than Never_ - Chapter Six

Finn/Brittany

**A/N: **I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter posted. It's also a short update, but I hope that you all enjoy it and it was worth the wait. It sets up a lot of what's to come. Chapter 7 will be much longer. Feedback is much appreciated.

* * *

Getting the idea of kissing Brittany out of his head was harder for Finn than he'd anticipated. He spent the next couple of days, days they really only talked on the phone a few times to decide when she'd come over next, trying to forget how she'd felt pressed against him. He had tried to forget the way she looked when she peeked up at him before he tried to kiss her.

But that was impossible.

Finn really just wanted to kiss her and there was something about the way she talked about wanting to be someone different from the girl she was in high school that made him want to do it even more. It made it more obvious how much that had both changed, how their circumstances had changed so much since high school, and he wanted to experience things as an adult. There was tons of time to think since she'd left his apartment two days before and he realized that sometimes he still felt like that teenager he once was. But with Brittany he felt like an adult. She treated him like one. She didn't baby him or ask a thousand questions like his mom and sometimes Rachel and Kurt did. She just offered her help and talked to him like she understood him.

When he heard her knock on his door to the beat of the song he had played on his drums when he started teaching her to play, Finn smiled. He was nervous since the image of kissing her was constantly playing in his head, but he was so glad that she was there.

Walking over to the door, he opened it with a smile on his face and was glad when she beamed back at him. "Hey, come in." Opening the door a little wider, he waited for her to step through before shutting it behind them. "Want anything?" Brittany shook her head and put her purse down on the coffee table before looking at him.

"Have you gotten any calls yet?"

"No, but I took two more resumes to a couple of the places we picked out and they say that they weren't hiring right now."

Sighing, he looked down for a moment.

"Don't worry, Finn. It will happen soon. That happened to me, too. Some places didn't even want to see my resume and what I could do. They just didn't have space then, but I found my job." She smiled reassuringly at him and just like that his own smile was back and he ran his hand down her arm before even thinking about what he was doing. He opened his mouth to apologize before snapping it shut. If he apologized, it would seem like more than a friendly thing, right? So that wouldn't be good. He had already made himself look a little bit like an idiot when he'd tried to kiss her. They were going to be friends. They weren't going to be awkward.

Finn walked over to the drum set before picking up the sticks and grinning at her, waving her over with them. "Come on, come on. Sit down and let's get started on this. I know you want to."

The way her nose scrunched up in excitement caused him to chuckle and he placed his hands on her shoulders as she sat down, handing over the sticks and then walking around to sit down on his coffee table. "I want to see what you can remember without me guiding you at all. Have you been thinking about the other day?" Brittany met his eyes and slowly nodded and he glanced down for a moment, thinking about how much the other day had been in his head the past couple of days. She was obviously thinking about the drum lessons while he had been stuck thinking about dancing with her.

"Awesome," he said after a moment, clasping his hands in front of him. "How about we just do that then? You can show me what you remembered and I can watch you be awesome at it." With a smile that matched hers, he waited for her to begin.

It was really impressive how much she remembered after their first drum lessons. While he couldn't remember a thing she told him about dancing when she'd tried to teach him, it almost seemed like she had been somewhere practicing the past couple of days. He might not have been able to play drums and dance, but she totally had good rhythm for both of those things and it was awesome to watch.

An hour and a couple of new lessons later, they were standing in his kitchen talking about where he should visit next.

Brittany had a huge, satisfied smile on her face as she leaned against his counter.

"You're the best drum teacher I've ever had," she said with a grin. "Okay, maybe you're the only one I've ever had, but I understand everything you say and that wasn't always the easiest thing for me in school."

Finn ducked his head with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Lifting his head, he looked at her for a long moment before saying, "It was never easy for me either, but we've changed, right? That's the best part about hanging out with you. I don't feel like a teenager around you."

Smiling a bit, they looked at each other for a moment before Brittany placed her empty water glass down on the counter. He knew he was probably telling her too much about how she had been making him feel, but maybe it was all in his head and she wasn't thinking anything about it.

After a few seconds of silence, he cleared his throat and moved toward her only to grab the glass and place it in the sink. He stood there staring at the wall before looking at her. "I like being older. Things make more sense now," he said and she nodded. "People make more sense now."

He needed to shut up before he said something he would regret later.

"So, you'll teach me more, right?" Brittany asked before he could open his mouth again. "I want to be as good as you. Don't know if that's possible, but it's fun to try."

Finn knew that there was a huge smile on his face as he enthusiastically nodded.

"Whenever you want." It was out of his mouth before he even knew he was thinking it. "Just let me know when and I'm here, until I get a job."

"I bet that will be really soon, Finn. Any place would be lucky to have you teaching people."

The smile that formed on her face caused him to step forward unconsciously.

"Thanks. I hope other people feel like that. It's finally time for New York to start working for me, you know?"

Before he was finished speaking, he had stepped up to her as close as they'd been when she tried to teach him to dance. They were so close that he could feel the heat radiating from her body. Or maybe it was still all in his head. He needed to move away.

Sending her an awkward smile, he stepped back before clearing his throat.

"Just let me know if you want lessons soon," he said slowly. He didn't want to seem too eager, but he was waiting for it already.

"Don't forget to go to more places. It's going to work out, okay?"

Brittany stepped forward this time and pressed her hand to his arm before he felt her lips on his cheek. They were on his skin just long enough for his eyes to slip shut at the contact.

"I'll talk to you later."

The words were said against his skin. And he wanted to know what that would feel like on his lips.

When she pulled back, Finn opened his eyes and nodded before suddenly leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers.

It was stupid.

It was so stupid.

He was probably ruining the friendship they'd just started, but her lips were soft and tasted like cotton candy. And, well, he liked cotton candy.

She didn't kiss him back. If she did, he barely felt it. She pulled back and looked at him with slightly wide eyes.

"I'm - I'm," he said a quickly, stumbling over his words as he tried to ignore what it was like to kiss her and instead think about what he should be saying to apologize about it all. "Sorry." He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before looking at her.

"Why'd you do that?" She asked, shaking her head as she looked at him. "I have to go, Finn."

He didn't want to let her go, but he had just made the biggest mistake he could have made with her and he didn't even know what to say. There probably wasn't any way he could fix it. And yet he still wanted to kiss her again.

He watched her walk through his apartment, past the drum kit and to the door, and finally opened his mouth once her hand was on the door knob.

"I'm sorry," he said again. Moving into the living room, he stood next to the couch. "I know you said you didn't want to be that girl again, but you didn't kiss me. It was just me. I wanted to kiss you, like woman you, because I know we're not in high school anymore and we've been talking about how much we've changed and stuff. I wanted to see what it was like to kiss woman you."

Brittany was staring at him as he spoke and he could see the slight confusion in her eyes. She shut her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again, he could have sworn he saw some understanding staring back at him.

"I'll talk to you later," she said quietly before turning and walking out the door.

Sighing loudly, he closed his eyes and tilted his head back as he listened to the door shut. Usually when he made a mistake, he could talk to someone, Rachel or Kurt or Puck. But none of them knew that he'd spent the past few days thinking about kissing Brittany. None of them knew how he'd been feeling about her lately.

This was just something he was going to have to keep to himself and hope that she didn't hate him now.


	7. Chapter Seven

_Better Late Than Never_ - Chapter Seven

Finn/Brittany

**A/N: **I'd like to apologize for being so late posting this chapter. It is the longest one of the fic, though, and I hope that helps to make up for my slowness. Once again, I went into my document to edit and ended up adding a bit more a few times. I hope that everyone reading enjoys this chapter and, as usual, any little bit of feedback is appreciated. Now that their relationship is growing, I'd love to know what everyone thinks. Enjoy!

* * *

"Brittany, I'm sorry."

No. That was stupid because he wasn't exactly sorry. It made him sound like he regretted it and he only regretted that he did it when she didn't want, when she wasn't ready for that. And he'd already told her he was sorry after he did it and that hadn't worked.

Finn was standing in his bedroom in front of his mirror staring at himself. He hadn't called Brittany since she left the week before, unsure of what to tell her about the kiss, so he was trying to figure it out for when they did talk. Hopefully it was soon.

"I hope you're not mad. Can we still be friends?" He groaned and shook his head to himself. There had to be some other way to talk to her.

But maybe ignoring it would be better. He didn't want to lose her friendship. She made him feel like an adult, but at the same time she helped him feel like he was still able to be himself without it being a bad thing. Other people he knew made it seem like being himself and not having a job meant that he was a failure. They didn't say that, of course, but he could feel it with the way some of them looked at him or the constant questions about whether or not he had any jobs lined up. Maybe when he was a teenager he never would have realized what people were thinking when they saw him, but he had figured out a lot of things over the years.

Finally picking up his phone, he sat down on the edge of the bed before choosing a number and bringing it up to his ear as it rang. It took a few rings for it to be answered, but he let out a relieved breath when it was.

"Finny D!" Puck's loud voice caused Finn to jump a bit before he relaxed.

Moving back to sit against his headboard, he ran a hand across his face. "Hey, man. Um, I was hoping I could talk to you about something."

"Let me guess. You want to pick up Caroline today," his best friend said with a chuckle. "No can do. Rach has some mommy-daughter plans for them tonight."

"No, no. That's fine. It's something else, but maybe I'll just talk to you later." Finn knew Puck was probably the best person to talk to about this kind of thing, but he didn't want to tell him everything just yet. Brittany was an old friend and wouldn't it be kind of weird for everyone if he liked her? It'd be even worse if she hated him now and he couldn't hang out with Rachel and Puck the same way because Rachel would probably choose the girl side of things, at least for a while.

"Not so fast, Hudson." Puck's tone softened a bit and Finn sighed. "What's up?"

"There's a girl," he said quickly, completely forgetting that he had just decided to keep it to himself. "And I'm an idiot."

It was silent for a moment and he was sure he'd shocked Puck to death until he spoke up again.

"Anyone I know? What'd you do this time?"

"Shut up," Finn muttered. "Okay, I kissed her even though she told me a few days before that she didn't want me to. And now we haven't talked and she hates me."

Groaning to himself, he closed his eyes and replayed the situation in his head. She left because he kissed her. It couldn't get clearer than that. She didn't want him.

"I'm so stupid."

"Stop whining. Maybe that was a little stupid, but have you tried to apologize?"

"But I'm not sorry," he replied dumbly.

"Forget that, Finn. If she's upset, you apologize. Period." Puck paused, no doubt waiting for Finn to react. After a few minutes, Puck spoke up again and Finn could almost see his eyes rolling. "She's not going to forgive you all on her own."

So maybe Puck had a point and he knew girls a lot more than Finn did and he'd probably screwed up with girls even more than Finn ever would in his life.

After a few more seconds of thinking, Finn nodded slowly even though Puck couldn't see him.

"She's not going to forgive me all on her own," he said, almost to himself to get it through his head more than to Puck. "That makes sense, I guess. Um, yeah, thanks. I'll talk to her soon and hopefully it's okay. I just don't want her to hate me."

"You won't hear me say this again, man. Don't fuck it up. She's probably lucky to have you liking her." He heard Puck groan on the other line and it caused Finn to smile widely, from Puck's words and how much he obviously hated saying something like that to another guy, even if they had been best friends and through a lot since they were kids.

"Thanks," he said simply. "I'll talk to you later, okay? Tell Rach and Care I said hey."

Before Puck could say anything more, Finn shut off his phone and stood back up to look at himself again in the mirror.

"Brittany, I'm really sorry about the other day. I hope you can forgive me for what I did. It won't happen again."

Okay, that didn't sound so bad that time. Hopefully she forgave him.

=/=

Putting his dirty dishes into the sink, Finn turned away from the counter and walked over to the couch. He sat down once he had his phone in his hand and looked at the empty text box for a moment before finally deciding that now was the time to talk to her.

Calling her could be too awkward and he would probably stumble over his words if he even tried, so a text it was. That would be a lot easier. He could decide what to type out before he did it and he could read it over and over to make sure it was perfect.

He had no idea when he'd ever been this obsessive over anything. If Puck was there, he'd probably just grab the phone from him and do it himself, muttering something under his breath about Finn being a sissy.

He smiled to himself ten minutes later when the message, without the apology since that would be better in person, was finally composed, nodding once before pressing the 'send' button on his phone and watching as it sent to her.

_Hey, Britt. No luck yet with any of the places I checked it out, but maybe we can try something else. I bet you have something else in mind. You always do._

Now all he had to do was wait.

But he couldn't do it by staring at the phone.

Grabbing the television remote, he pressed the power button and tossed it onto the couch next to him with his phone sitting in his lap.

=/=

"You want to make a video? This isn't an episode of Fondue for Two, is it? I don't know if I want to be online," Finn said as he sat at his drum set like Brittany had told him to almost as soon as she walked into his apartment.

He was just glad she replied to his text, saying she had 'the best idea ever' and would be over in 20 minutes. She arrived quicker than that and Finn was relieved to see a smile on her face as soon as he opened his door.

"Not for Fondue for Two, silly. That's next, though, if this doesn't work." Brittany smiled at him like he'd just given her another great idea and that look alone caused his heart to speed up a little.

"So, what's this for?"

"I want you to play a couple of songs and I'm going to record you. It might sound kind of weird right now, but maybe someone will take a look at it even if they don't look at your resume." She shrugged before adding, "I recorded myself dancing a few times and the studio I work at now really liked it."

Staring at her a little unsure, Finn held his drumsticks in his hands and tapped on the cymbal.

"Just try it, Finn."

He nodded a little slowly at her request before sitting up straight and tall on his seat.

"Okay. Action?"

=/=

Were they going to talk about it? Finn was pretty sure that they should, but once they finished recording him playing a few songs and then explaining some basic drum techniques - a last minute addition by him since he was trying to get a job as a drum teacher - they hadn't said much to one another.

And it was kind of starting to drive him insane. A part of him really wanted to tell her what he'd decided on earlier that day after talking to Puck. Then there was another part of him that thought it might not be too bad if they never mentioned it ever because they seemed to be doing pretty well without bringing it up.

If only his brain would stop shouting at him that telling her he was sorry was what he'd planned all along. That was the decision he'd come to for a reason.

"Any plans tonight?" He asked, moving away from his drumset and over to sit on the couch. Wait. She probably thought he was trying to see if she had a date or something. Did she? It was probably someone that Rachel had set her up with. She tried to do that with him a lot, too.

Watching as Brittany sat down a few inches away from him, Finn flicked his eyes to her face and smiled slightly. Now all he could think about was whether or not her answer was going to be that she was dating some model or someone like that, someone totally better looking than him.

"Not really," she said, drawing a deep breath of relief from him. "I was thinking about staying in and having a slumber party with my cat. We might watch a movie."

Brittany's shoulders went up in a shrug and she smiled softly as she looked over at him. "What about you?"

Finn shook his head slowly. His heartbeat was finally returning to normal after his inner freak out, and it was adorable that she thought staying in with her cat was a slumber party. Who wouldn't feel good after hearing that?

"I need to send these videos to a couple of the places I took my resume to and I guess I'll go by Puck and Rachel's. I haven't picked up Caroline in a few days, so I should go see what they're up to."

He was sure that his life would sound pretty sad to anyone, but with the way Brittany was looking at him, he didn't think she was one of those people at all. She was unlike anyone else. That was just one of the reasons he'd found himself liking her lately.

Opening his mouth, he met her eyes and knew that he needed to tell her that he was sorry. This was his shot to make everything right again. But before anything could come out of his mouth, something in Brittany's eyes changed and she quickly stood up.

"I hope the video helps, Finn. I have to go, but I'll talk to you soon." He was up a moment later, nodding his head with no words coming from his lips now. It was like his brain went completely blank in those few seconds. "Good luck."

He was still moving his head as she stepped forward and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "Bye." Then she was gone before he could even say anything.

As soon as the lock clicked, he sighed and dropped back onto the couch. "Yeah. Bye."

So, it seemed like they were just going to ignore things and he would just have to deal with that. That definitely hadn't gone as planned.

=/=

"What'd your secret girl say?" Puck asked as he shut the door of the room he called his man cave. Finn knew that it was actually just their office with a television on the wall.

Finn sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "She didn't say anything because we didn't talk about it."

Sitting down in one of the chairs, he closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, Puck was standing there staring at him in disbelief.

"Nothing? You were supposed to take my advice, man."

"We hung out, but she didn't seem mad or anything, so I didn't bring it up."

Lifting one of his shoulders in a lazy shrug, he tried to convince himself that it was better that they didn't talk about it. If they did, couldn't that make things even more confusing and mess up their friendship? If she wanted to ignore it, that could be the best idea.

Maybe.

Puck didn't seem convinced, and he saw his best friend roll his eyes.

"Are you at least going to tell me who she is?"

Finn turned the thought over in his mind. Turning in the chair to look at him, he said simply, "No."

"It's not like I'm going to tell anyone. How'd you meet her?"

"At her work," Finn said with another shrug, hoping that his face didn't show that he was lying. "Yeah. We had coffee one night after she got off work and started hanging out at my place. Then I kissed her."

"Let's see if I understand. You met a girl, you had coffee with her, and you've been hanging out at your place." Puck narrowed his eyes and looked like he was thinking pretty hard before glancing at Finn with a small smile on his face. "This is how adults date, Finny D."

If this were any other situation, Puck would have a point. But he'd left a lot out of the story, like how he actually knew his 'secret girl' and why exactly they were hanging out at his apartment. All of that probably changed the entire meaning of the situation.

"We're not dating. Believe me."

Pick shrugged and stood up.

"Whatever you say. Don't come crying to me when she tells you in a few months that she was waiting to talk about you kissing her."

That was Puck's version of tough love, Finn knew that, but he also knew that Puck would be there anytime he needed him. He just hoped the situation with Brittany never came to him needing more advice.

=/=

He was half asleep when a thought caused his eyes to pop open. Reaching over to grab his phone, he quickly typed a message and sent it before he could think too much about it.

_How was your slumber party?_

He liked that she texted him back almost immediately. Maybe it was only on his head, but it was almost like she was waiting for the message.

_Awesome. We watched Lady and the Tramp. It's one of my favorites! Did you go to Rach's?_

_Yeah, I went and hung out over there for a while._

_I bet Caroline liked that. :) Maybe some time I can go and hang out with all of you. It would be fun._

_Sounds good to me, Britt. But, yeah, she liked it and so did I. Don't tell anyone, but she said I'm her favorite coloring partner._

He chuckled to himself as he thought about Caroline's face when she told him that.

_I'm jealous! If we all do that together, I hope you're ready for someone to take your spot. I'm great with crayons._

_No way. We'll have to fight for that title._

_Game on then, Hudson. ;)_

With another smile on his face, he typed out a message telling her that they would have to figure out a good night for both of them to go over to the Puckerman apartment for dinner. It wasn't up to him, of course, but Rachel loved to have people over. They would be able to set that up in no time and he was already looking forward to it.

_Thanks again for the videos. I sent them to most of the places on my list. Maybe I'll have a job soon and then I owe you a dinner._

_You don't have to._

He felt himself deflate a bit in that moment until his phone vibrated again.

_But I'm not gonna say no to that. :)_

_Awesome. I'm looking forward to it. Good night._

_Sleep tight, Finn. I'm not going to finish the rest of that because it's always creeped me out. Talk to you later._


	8. Chapter Eight

_Better Late Than Never _- Chapter Eight

Finn/Brittany

**A/N: **Thanks for reviews and likes for the last chapter. I'm glad to know that people are still reading and enjoying the story. I'm sorry that this chapter has taken awhile for me to post. Between real life and RPs I'm in, it can sometimes be a little difficult to have fic writing time, but I am working on chapter 9 now. Feedback is greatly appreciated as usual. Enjoy. :)

* * *

"Thank you so much. This is awesome." Finn rambled into the phone with a huge smile on his face. It was probably a good thing the woman had called him and not told him that he'd been hired during an interview. He was sure he would have hugged her just out of excitement. And that would probably be a bad way of beginning a job.

"We would love to see you Monday morning, Finn. Your video was quite impressive and refreshing."

His smile grew then as he thought about Brittany. He couldn't wait to tell her that her idea had worked. Her idea and her help was changing his life.

"Thank you again. I'll be there."

After confirming the time once more, Finn hung up the phone and collapsed on his bed in relief. He had a job. It felt like it took him years, even if technically it was only a few months, but it had taken a lot of energy. Until Brittany came into the picture, he was feeling useless and at a deep end.

Brittany.

She deserved to be the first to know.

Knowing that she didn't have any more classes that day, he reached for his phone again and found her number. As it rang, he wondered what he should say. Maybe that should have been obvious since he was just calling to tell her that he had finally been offered a job.

"Brittany S. Pierce speaking!"

"Finn Hudson calling," he said with a chuckle. "Hey."

"Hey, Finny! What's up?"

"I just have some news I wanted to tell you. Wanted you to be the first to know."

He paused and was about to continue when she started speaking again in a rush.

"What is it? Oh my gosh, Finn! Did Rachel have the baby already?"

There was a panic evident in her voice and he hurriedly answered her.

"No! Don't worry about that. It's not that. I got a job!"

A squeal sounded from her end of the phone and he found himself laughing softly at her excitement.

"That's so amazing, Finn! I'm so proud of you. I told you someone would love to hire you." The smile was in her voice and that made Finn smile as he stood up and moved through his apartment to go sit on the couch.

"I have you to thank for it, you know."

Sitting down, he shook his head when Brittany told him a second later that she didn't need him to repay her in any way. But he wanted to do. As far as he was concerned, she deserved a thank you, and he was going to make sure she accepted it.

"Let me take you to dinner, Britt," he said slowly. "I can plan it or you can decide where you want to go and it will be my treat."

He held his breath as he waited for her answer, sure that she was going to refuse again.

"Okay. I would really like that, Finn," she said, and he could still tell that she was smiling as she spoke. That made him feel good. Maybe this wasn't a date or anything, at least he hadn't officially asked her on one, but it was nice that she seemed happy that he had offered to do that for her.

"It will be cool to hang out again outside of my apartment, you know? I liked when we went to that coffee shop after your class that night."

"I liked that, too. It's really nice to talk to you, Finn. I don't think I've ever really had anyone who likes to talk about me and just stuff. You promise if we go to dinner, we can talk some more?" There was a hint of teasing in her voice and Finn smiled, stretching out on his couch and nodding to himself.

"We'll talk until we get bored of each other or lose our voices. Deal?"

"Deal. I want you to plan dinner, okay? But I want to go somewhere we can dress up a little. That's always fun."

A couple of places came to mind as she said that, but he knew that he would need to get a little help in planning this... date? No. He wasn't sure if it was one of those, but he figured he would find out when they actually went out together.

=/=

Although Kurt would have been the best person to ask for help finding a nice restaurant to take Brittany, Finn knew that asking his brother would have caused a lot of curiosity. Since Puck already knew some of the story about him and Brittany, without knowing who the girl he liked was, he asked his best friend for some suggestions of restaurants that Rachel really liked going to.

It seemed like the best idea.

So a few days later, he had a reservation for two at a pretty nice restaurant where they would be able to dress up a bit like Brittany wanted to do. He liked that she was interested in going somewhere that could be considered a little romantic. Maybe it was a date after all.

Taking a deep breath as he reached her door, he looked down at his slacks and shirt to make sure that his shoes were tied and his fly was done. It would be really embarrassing if he started out their night looking like a dork. After checking himself out, he knocked on the door and stepped back as he waited for her to open it. He had picked up a small bouquet of flowers on his way and he hoped that she liked those. He had gone over it in his head the entire way to her apartment and then almost left them in the cab before getting out at her building.

It was probably too much.

What if she didn't like that and decided she no longer wanted to go out with him?

Oh no.

Before he could toss them away or hide them somewhere or something, his attention was brought back to the door as she opened it to reveal herself standing in a red dress.

"Whoa," he said before he could stop himself, taking in the sight of her and the way she looked in the outfit. When she said dress up, she meant it. Her hair was up in curls that probably took her an hour or so to do them, but it looked great the way they fell over her shoulders. And the smile on her face made her look even better. The best part was that she seemed happy to see him. "You look really beautiful, Britt."

Brittany looked down and smiled before lifting her head again and saying, "Thank you, Finn. You look really handsome." She stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her before pressing her lips to his cheek. Her heels made her just a couple of inches shorter than him and the way she didn't have to lift up onto her toes to kiss his cheek was pretty awesome.

"Oh, these are for you." He showed her the yellow daisies and thrusted them out in front of him, his eyes wide with worry that she wouldn't like that he'd bought her flowers for something that they never officially called a date. "I hope you like them. The color reminded me of you."

"Finn, you didn't have to do this."

He felt like the wind had been knocked out of him when her words reached his ears. He had messed this entire dinner up already.

"We can forget that I got them for you then," he said quickly. "I'll just throw them away. I think I saw a trash can at the end of the hall."

"What?" Brittany burst into a fit of giggles and looked at him, shaking her head and opening her apartment door again. "I love them, Finn. I meant that you didn't have to get them, but I do like that you did. Let me just go in and put them in a vase so they don't die."

He nodded dumbly and just stood there watching her walk back into her apartment. Once she was out of sight, he groaned lowly and inwardly chastised himself. He was glad that she liked the flowers, but he felt like such a kid when it came to this dating (or maybe not dating) thing.

When she came back out, he smiled softly and watched her lock up before offering her his arm. "Are you ready for dinner?"

"So ready. I can't wait to see where you're taking me. If it's not good, we can't do this again."

She peeked up at him and he looked down at her with surprise, but he could see the grin forming on her lips, so he knew that she was just teasing. And just like that, somehow he relaxed. He was making this harder on himself than it should have been. For the rest of the night, he was going to be as calm as possible and just be himself.

=/=

"This place is so nice," Brittany whispered to him as soon as the waitress left the table after seating them and placing a menu in front of each of them. "You really picked a place where we could dress up."

There was an excitement in her voice and eyes that made Finn feel like he had actually made a great decision. He definitely owned Puck for the help.

"Do you like it?"

"I love it." She smiled excitedly at him before looking down at the menu. Her eyes widened, causing him to look down at it and he swallowed roughly as he realized the prices.

Maybe he didn't owe Puck anything. This place was insane. But he did owe it to Brittany to take her to a nice place, so he was just going to suck it up and make sure she had the best time.

After a minor inner freak out as they ordered their meals and two glasses of wine, Finn sat back in his seat and looked across the table to see Brittany staring at him. She wasn't smiling, but she didn't look upset either. She was just staring at him.

"I wasn't sure if you liked Italian food, but I heard this was a good place." Actually, Puck told him that it was a romantic restaurant. That had nothing to do with him deciding on it.

"Finn, this is perfect. Believe me, this is like the exact kind of place I imagined when you mentioned taking me to dinner." Her smile lit up her entire face. He could see how happy she was to be there with him. It was hard to believe that they were really out like this and, the more time that went by, the more it really felt like a date.

Hopefully he wasn't just fooling himself.

"You didn't think I'd take you to Chuck E. Cheese, did you?"

"That would be fun, though! Can we do that one day?"

He couldn't help but nod quickly. Just knowing that one day she would be okay with it, that she wanted to go with him to a place like that, changed any feelings of doubt over this choice. That was something he really liked about her. She had a playful and young side to her. It was fun. It was different.

"We can go wherever you want," he said with a grin directed toward her before glancing around the restaurant and observing the other couples there. They might not have been together, and he didn't know if they ever would be, but it felt nice to kind of pretend in that moment that they were like the other people in the restaurant.

Was he wrong in assuming this was a date? It felt more and more like one as the minutes went by. They were at a nice restaurant, he'd brought her flowers, they were talking about going other places, and she kept smiling at him in a way he'd never really seen.

Taking a deep breath, he looked over at her and smiled. "Can I ask you something, Britt? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but I just need to ask."

She looked surprised for a moment before nodding.

"Is this - well, is this a date?"

It felt like it was a few minutes before she answered and he was sure he was messing things up. Again. But then she smiled and giggled, looking down at the table before peeking up and saying, "Of course it is. I wouldn't have said I wanted to go with you to a nice place if it wasn't."

"Really?" He asked, a little shocked at her answer. "I was really worried that I was making a fool of myself with the flowers earlier."

"No, I loved them. They're my favorites. Yellow ones and the pink ones."

He nodded and told himself to remember that bit of information. If this worked out, he could buy her the pink ones for their next date.

It was a date.

"Awesome. I wasn't sure if I should just ask you on one, but I really wanted it to be a date. But even if you didn't want to go out with me, I still wanted to hang out. I just really like hanging out with you."

"I like hanging out with you, too, Finn." She bit her lip and looked a little embarrassed for a moment. "_Can_ we go to Chuck E. Cheese one day?"

Finn laughed. "That would be awesome.I haven't been there or to an arcade in years."

"I bet I could beat you at air hockey," she said playfully, lifting her eyebrows up and sending him a small smirk.

"You're on."

He smiled over at her as their wine glasses were filled and he looked at the drink for a second. He wasn't much of a wine drinker, but it felt like a better choice for their dinner than asking for a beer.

Lifting his glass, he sniffed it like he had seen a couple other people doing.

Brittany was staring at him again and he felt himself flush a bit.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a giggle.

"I don't know. I saw someone else smell theirs," he said honestly before putting his glass down and shrugging.

"Finn, you don't have to do stuff because you think you're supposed to." She shook her head and reached across the table, placing her hand on top of one of his. "I like you the way you are. Even if we're at a nice restaurant, we don't have to act like that." She shrugged a shoulder before adding, "Unless it's for fun. Let's do it for fun, okay?"

"Sure," he said, lifting his glass again and smiling at her as he sniffed it once more. "It smells like grapes."

Brittany giggled as she smelled her wine and nodded quickly. "I love grapes," she said before taking a sip and Finn followed suit, smiling when she made a sound of approval.

This date was off to an awesome start.


	9. Chapter Nine

_Better Late Than Never _- Chapter Nine

Finn/Brittany

**A/N:** Thanks for the patience. Now that this chapter is up, I'm going to be looking over my plot outline for the rest of the fic and making sure that it's still going where I want. Be sure to let me know if there's anything you're interested in seeing. I can't make any promises, but I am very interested in what everyone thinks. I will also be trying to reply to reviews that I've missed in the past few weeks, but I appreciate every single one of them. This chapter includes the rest of the date and post-date. Enjoy!

* * *

"This was a great date, Finn," Brittany said as she looked at him from across the table.

The waiter had just brought over the check and Finn was currently hoping that his inner freak out over the bill wasn't showing on his face. But hearing her say that made the price a little more bearable.

A little.

He looked at her with a smile and replied, "Great? I think it's been awesome. I hope we have more." He smiled again and slid his credit card into the receipt folder before moving it closer to the edge of the table so the waiter could come by and get it. "And this dessert was awesome, too. I'm glad you wanted to share some cake."

"Oh! I love cake."

"So do I. There should be cake everywhere." He liked that they had some things in common. From talking to her on their date, he learned that they both liked cheese (fondue for her and grilled cheese sandwiches for him) and they were animal people. He'd never actually had a pet while she had several cats growing up, but he always thought it would be nice to have a dog. Now that he had a job starting soon, maybe he could manage to take care of another living creature.

He signed the receipt when the waiter came back before asking if she was ready to go. Once she nodded, he was up and over to her side of the table and offering his hand to her. Maybe it was a little risky, but he couldn't help himself. It would be nice to hold it.

She placed her hand in his and he smiled a bit in satisfaction as they walked hand and hand out of the restaurant.

=/=

"I hate that our date is over." Brittany turned to him with a pout after she unlocked her apartment door. "But I do really want to do it again."

Although the door was pushed opened, Brittany didn't step in. Instead, she turned back and looked up at him with a smile replacing the pout.

It felt like they were standing there silently for a reason, and it took Finn a moment to realize that it was probably because the end of the first date was usually the part where the people on the date either kissed or said good night. Looking at her, he smiled before running a hand down her arm. After kissing her before she wanted him to, he wasn't sure if now would be such a good idea to lean in again. So he wouldn't.

"We'll totally do it again," he said with a nod. "And we can even go to Chuck E. Cheese if you really want to do that."

"That's something we should totally do one day, but I already have an idea of where I want to go with you next." She looked at him with a large grin and it left him wondering what was going on in her head.

The fact that she was already thinking about where she wanted them to go made Finn feel awesome, and he liked the idea that they were setting up a second date before the first was officially over.

Smiling at her, he nodded. "That sounds awesome. You plan that and then we can figure out when. Hopefully soon."

Before he could say anything else, Brittany was lifting up and pressing her lips gently to his. He was a little surprised after everything, but it was nice. It was just the confirmation he needed that he hadn't completely screwed up their friendship. The kiss didn't last very long, just long enough for him to realize what was happening and kiss her back softly. But it was the best first date kiss he'd ever had.

She lowered back down to her heels a second later and took one of his hands.

"Would you like to come in?"

The question took him a little by surprise, but he found himself shaking his head before he could even completely process what she asked.

"Do I want to? Yeah." He laughed softly and nodded. "But I think I should get going. Maybe after our next day we can go in and talk some more."

He wasn't sure what she had planned if they did go in, whether it was really just talking or maybe taking things a little further, but he hoped she knew that he wasn't saying no because he didn't want to. It wasn't really him to go in with a girl on the first date anyway. Plus, he wanted to make sure he treated her like she deserved. Going at a slow pace could be good for both of them.

Instead of looking at him in shock or maybe even anger that he was saying no, Brittany nodded and smiled widely.

"Okay. Call me tomorrow or something, if you're not too busy getting ready for work."

"Sure," he said with a nod before dipping his head and kissing her once more. He stepped back before he could do it again. "Good night, Brittany."

When she smiled again and stepped inside, he watched as she closed the door and waited to hear her locks slide into place before heading out of the building. He smiled to himself as he walked out and unlocked his phone before hailing a cab. As soon as he was settled in the backseat, he typed out a text message to Puck.

_Thanks for the idea, man. I guess I owe you._

A few minutes later, his phone signaled that he had a message of his own and he shook his head as he read it.

_Does this mean you got laid?_

_No. Shut up. It's not like that. We just had a really good time._

_What'd you think of the restaurant?_

Finn could almost see Puck's smirk. The guy had to know that he sent him to a restaurant where he'd spend most of what was currently in his bank account.

But it was a nice restaurant and an even nicer date. It might have been expensive, but he thought he would take Brittany there again if she really liked it. It was definitely worth the extra money.

_It was nice. I think I'd take her there again._

_I thought you were going to try to kick my ass for that._

_It was the best date I've ever had, so I can't be mad right now, but you've gotta have some cheaper suggestions. For other dates._

When the cab pulled up to his apartment building, he paid the driver and stepped out before heading inside and up to his apartment. The way the older tenant across from him looked at him as she walked her dog down the hall caused him to notice that he still had a huge smile plastered on his face. He probably looked like an idiot, but it felt pretty good.

He hadn't smiled this much in years. It had been even longer since he felt like this about a girl, and there was something amazing about feel that way again.

=/=

Getting settled into bed that night, Finn checked his phone to find a short list of a few more restaurants from Puck and a message from Brittany. After texting Puck a quick thanks, he smiled as he read Brittany's message.

_I have the best idea for our next date!_

_Yeah? What is it?_

_There's this super fun club that I've gone to a few times with some of my dance friends. We should go._

_Like a music club?_

_No, silly. It's a dance club. We could go and hang out and dance. It would be so fun._

His face fell as he thought over her idea. A dance club? She was the best dancer he'd ever seen and she wanted to go to a club with him, the worst dancer he was sure she'd ever seen.

_Are you sure that's a good idea?_

_Yeah! I've never gone on a date to a club. We can practice some more if you want, but we danced a lot together in glee, remember? Remember when we did Blame It?_

Did he remember that? Yes, he absolutely remembered dancing with her all of those times in glee, but that was one of the times when they were very close and dancing in ways he'd never danced with anyone else. It had been exciting when he was a teenager. The idea was actually still exciting to him now. He could never forget the way she felt against him during that dance.

_Of course I remember that, Britt. I'm in._

She already knew how to convince him to do things she wanted, but he couldn't even be upset about it. He wanted to dance with her more and more. Publicly wasn't exactly his favorite idea, but if it meant they could dance together like that again, he was more than looking forward to it.


	10. Chapter Ten

_Better Late Than Never_ - Chapter 10

Finn/Brittany

**A/N: **A new chapter is finally here! Unfortunately my brain was not cooperating for a while when it came to writing, but I'm happy to say that the rest of the fic is plotted out and I really enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully you do as well. As usual, any sort of feedback is appreciated. I'll be jumping into chapter 11 this weekend and I'm excited to write what happens with these two for the remainder of the fic.

* * *

Finn wasn't a dancer.

Anyone who knew him in high school learned that as soon as he joined glee club, and no matter how long he was a member, his dancing didn't improve much. So he was absolutely sure that Brittany knew what she was getting herself into when she suggested that they go to a dance club for their second date. She was the one who suggested more dance lessons before they went on the date, so for a few nights, he'd gone over to her apartment after she finished work for the day and attempted to learn from her. Most of the time he just stared at her while she demonstrated for him and had no idea what she was wanting from him when it was his turn. If he managed to get through this date without ruining their relationship, he would consider himself really lucky.

He was just worried that he would embarrass her. She was amazing and he absolutely wasn't. There would probably be people standing around watching them and laughing because he was so bad. Or, worse, he could injure himself or someone else.

"Finn, the cab just stopped."

Finn snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention to Brittany, nodding slowly as he reached for his back pocket to fish out his wallet.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something," he replied sheepishly. He paid the driver and thanked him before getting out of the vehicle after Brittany. Once he was on the sidewalk next to her, he shook his head and inwardly told himself to stop freaking out. He reached down and threaded his fingers through hers. She wanted to be there with him, right? That was all that mattered. Relaxing a bit, he looked down at her. "Let's go dance, Britt."

=/=

As soon as they entered the club, Brittany was ready to dance and dragged him into the middle of the dance floor, any protest from him dying on his tongue. He was still trying to get used to the pulsing lights. There were people all around them and he was a little nervous to dance in front of so many people, but he took a deep breath and did his best to use their personal lessons to keep himself moving to the rhythm. His arms were limp at his sides for the first few moments, afraid that one movement would have someone on the floor clutching their nose. That memory from glee club was still fresh in his mind. But soon enough, he began to lift them up along his sides a little as he shuffled his feet, trying to recall a couple of things he remembered from Brittany's lessons. It was all awkward, but he was trying to be a good date for her.

Then Brittany was suddenly closer to him and he swallowed roughly. It was already hard enough for him to focus, but with Brittany dancing against him the way she was, his steps were even clumsier.

"You're amazing," he said suddenly, not even thinking about his words.

With the way she beamed up at him in response, he was glad he hadn't thought about it.

He could see the people behind her dancing, but she was better than every single one of them. It was obvious that this made her happy. Her cheeks were flushed, a small smile playing on her lips, and the flush on her cheeks - if that was from his words, he didn't know - made her sexier than he'd ever seen her.

"And you're beautiful," he said with a grin, sliding his hand up from her waist to her hip.

Brittany looked so delighted as she gazed up at him and it made him want to tell her everything he thought about her. Before he could get started, her arms winded around his neck and he couldn't think of anything other than that feeling for the moment.

"Want to get a drink?" She asked a few minutes later, slowly swaying to the music, moving her hands down his chest and grabbing his hands in hers. "We can go find somewhere to sit and talk."

He quickly nodded and they walked over to the bar, ordering their drinks and heading over to a small booth. Finn was glad for the break from dancing. An embarrassing amount of sweat had already collected on his brow. Wiping it away with the back of his hand as discreetly as he could, he sat down.

The way Brittany scooted across the seat to press against him made him realize how much better a booth was than the table they'd sat at on their first date.

That made it a little difficult to think and they were supposed to be talking. He took a sip of his drink to give himself a second to think. It also made it easier not to just kiss her right then and there.

"How's work?" He settled on the question, knowing that it was lame. It was the only one he could come up with at the moment. But he did want to know more about it.

Brittany beamed over at him, her happiness lighting up her entire face.

"It's so great, Finn. The kids make me feel wonderful. When you teach them something new, they get super excited that they can do it, and that's just so awesome. They'll clap or cheer when they get a new move down. It's the cutest thing ever actually." The smile was still on her face as she paused. "I can't think of anything else I would rather be doing. There isn't anything else for me."

Finn was sure everyone knew that Brittany would be a dancer or at least have some sort of career with dance involved, and it was obvious that she had found the job for her.

"So are you happy with it?"

"Beyond happy. I've never been this happy, ever. Everything came together and it's the best thing in the world." She sent him another smile then grabbed his hand. "That's how I know that this kind of job is right for you, teaching people how to do something. If it doesn't make you feel good, we'll find you something else together, okay. I want everyone to be as happy as I am."

That was the best thing about Brittany really, Finn realized. She cared about other people more than anyone else he'd ever known. And somehow just knowing that she wanted him to be that happy made him believe that she was right about the job.

"Well, I do have you to thank again for helping me get a job." He lifted his drink, and grinned at her. "To Brittany, the nicest woman and best dancer I know. I don't know what else to say because speeches are hard, but thank you for everything."

The giggle that escaped her lips caused his grin to grow as he took another sip of his drink.

"Thanks. You know, you're the first person who has ever really called me a woman." She shrugged, but he could tell that meant something to her. And it meant something to him, too. She was an adult with a job and an apartment and she was living alone in a big city without anyone's help. She was an adult. She was a woman. That was just one reason he found himself falling for her.

Being with her was relaxing and it felt natural, and he could only hope that he somehow made her feel the same way. It was easy and hard at the same time because he was still constantly worried about coming off as a moron, but that was part of the excitement of dating again, he guessed.

"I can't wait to hear about your job. Will you call me Monday night? You can tell me all about it." Brittany looked over the rim of her glass, taking a sip of the brightly colored concoction. She sat it down before continuing. "I know you'll probably want to call Puck and Rachel first, but -"

"No," he interrupted quickly, shaking his head fast. "No, I'll call you when I get home. First thing." Sending a smile over to her, he shrugged. "I don't know if I'll be doing much, but I want to tell you all about it. Just promise you won't get bored when I call you."

Brittany giggled and nodded her head. "Promise."

They sat there in silence for a few moments as they finished their drinks. Brittany tilted her head to the side and a huge smile formed on her face. Suddenly, she grabbed his hand and slid even closer to him, her lips close to his ear. "Let's go dance. I love this song."

=/=

"Do you wanna come in tonight?"

Brittany leaned against the door and tipped her head back to look at him. Their hands were still intertwined as they had been the entire walk to her place. Finn really didn't want to stop touching her.

Nodding slowly, he smiled at her as she pushed the door open and pulled him inside her apartment. It was dark inside and he tripped over his own foot, quickly righting himself and hoping that Brittany hadn't notice.

"Do you want a drink?" Her voice took him by surprise for some reason and suddenly the light was turned on, illuminating her face. There was something about the way he could really only see her shoulders and face that made him think of a dark bedroom

He had to get that thought out of his head immediately.

"A drink, yeah," he sputtered quickly. "Sounds great."

Brittany smiled before gesturing to the couch and dropping his hand. He stood there and watched as she walked into the kitchen. Then he walked over to the couch.

"You were great tonight, Finn. I hope you weren't too nervous or anything. I totally couldn't tell if you were."

Before he could even gather his thoughts, Brittany was back with two glasses and sat them down on the coffee table before settling next to him. Very close. Just like that he wanted to kiss her again.

"You're always great. Amazing even."

He knew she probably heard that sort of thing a lot given her job, but the way she smiled made it feel like it meant something coming from him. It was the way her nose crinkled in the cutest way and there was a twinkle in her eye.

She slid closer to him then, turning her body to face him. Then she was kissing him. Her lips were soft against his almost as if the few seconds she'd spent in the kitchen had given her time to apply some sort of balm. But he was pretty certain that was just her. And she tasted awesome, a mix of her last drink from the club and just... Brittany.

Placing a hand gingerly on her waist, Finn turned his body to face her more fully and began to return the kiss slowly. It felt nice to know she wanted to kiss him now. Especially when he'd been thinking about doing it all night.

She deepened their kiss a bit, an arm going around his waist and her hand splaying across the back of his shirt. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and the way she pressed closer to him almost caused Finn to lose his breath.

She was an amazing kisser to say the least.

Any nervousness he was feeling from their date simply faded away at the feel of the tip of her tongue caressing the seam of his lips, and he eagerly opened his mouth to allow her entrance.

They continued kissing for several moments and both of his hands made their way to her waist. He groaned lowly at the loss of contact when she pulled away to breathe. Opening his eyes, he looked at her and smiled softly.

"I'm really glad you came in tonight," came from her swollen lips, a small contented expression on her face.

Lifting a hand to cup her cheek, he stroked the skin there and gently pulled her back to him for another kiss.

Coming in was the best decision he could have made.


	11. Chapter Eleven

_Better Late Than Never_ - Chapter Eleven

Finn/Brittany

**A/N: **This chapter has been finished for a while, but I was having a bit of problem making sure it was ready to be posted. Then once I heard about Cory's passing, editing was the last thing on my mind, and it took me until today to be able to get back into working on it. There should be 2-3 chapters remaining. Things could change, so don't hesitate to review or leave a suggestion. Thank you for the continued patience. This is probably my favorite chapter to date. I loved exploring more of Finn and Brittany's relationship and Finn's feelings about it all. They just come so naturally to me and I love writing them becoming more. This chapter includes a few familiar people as well and they'll all be making appearances in the next chapters. Enjoy!

* * *

The next few weeks involved more work than seeing Brittany and Finn hated it. His job was even better than he imagined, though, and they'd continued to go on dates every weekend, so he felt like his life was really looking up. Every time they got together he realized that she didn't want to stop seeing him. They were actually dating and he somehow hadn't done anything to ruin their relationship.

Neither of them had brought up the boyfriend and girlfriend talk, but he knew he would be ready for that whenever she was. The closest they'd been to that sort of conversation was after she talked to Rachel on the phone while he kissed her neck the entire time. Rachel questioned her giggling and Brittany insisted she was just watching television, and once she hung up the phone she kissed him deeper than any time before. When she pulled back, he asked why didn't didn't tell Rachel it was him and she countered by asking why he didn't say anything while she was on the phone. Then they decided that keeping everything to themselves for a little longer was the best idea since their friends and his brother could be a little overbearing when it came to his relationship status. It felt good to be forming a new relationship without anyone else getting involved. They knew their friends would mean well, but they would also make things a little hard.

By the time Rachel's baby shower came around, they had spent the night together a few times. It was the most serious he'd been with a girl in a couple of years, but with Brittany it felt really natural. He quickly became comfortable around her and he was pretty sure she felt the same way, if how she could walk around in just her robe or even less was any indication. And he loved that.

"I think I should get up," Brittany said unconvincingly, not moving a muscle from where she was in her bed with his arms wrapped around her. "Rach will be so upset if I'm late."

He nodded against her head, knowing all too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of Rachel's punctuality rants.

"I don't want her to be mad at you."

"I know."

Brittany sighed softly and pressed a kiss to his jaw before slowly and reluctantly pulling away from him to sit up. The single sheet covering them slid down her chest to pool at her waist and he allowed his eyes to linger on her figure while she sat there. They hadn't slept together yet, but they were taking their time and getting to know one another a little more intimately every time they were together. Seeing a naked Brittany quickly became one of his favorites things in the world.

Sitting up and resting on her pillows, he reached out and ran a hand down her back. The smile that formed on her lips caused him to lean forward and press a gentle kiss to her bare shoulder.

"Go get ready. I'll be here when you're finished."

She turned her head to look at him and nodded once, leaning into him and kissing him slowly. Before he could respond, or before either of them could get carried away, she hopped out of the bed and slipped her feet into her house shoes.

Finn was half asleep just a couple of minutes later when his phone rang in his jeans pocket. They were halfway across the room in a pile with the rest of both of their clothes from the night before.

He heaved a sigh as he got up and walked over, grabbing his pants and fishing out the phone.

_Boy's day? _

It made sense that Puck would want to get away from the baby shower. Rachel probably intended for him to be there, but if he made any plans, Finn knew he would be able to get out of it.

_Yeah, sure. Want me to meet you somewhere? _

_Just come over to our place. Care wants to see you anyway. _

The sound of the water in the next room caught his attention and he quickly sent another text through before tossing his phone onto the bedside table.

_I'll be there. _

Making his way into the bathroom, he smiled at the sight of Brittany in the shower, or at least all of her that he could see. Her yellow shower curtain was pretty sheer and it wasn't a bad sight at all.

"Britt?" He called out, reaching a hand back to knock gently on the door. He'd learned quickly that there were some things that scared her. Climbing into the shower unannounced was one of them. That only happened once and it was something neither of them wanted to experience again. He still had a small scar on his chest from her razor nicking him. "Can I join you?"

Brittany poked her head out of the shower and nodded, her wet blonde hair attaching itself to her cheeks. He picked it away from her skin and smiled. The way she smiled back caused his breath to catch in his throat.

It was constantly surprising him how beautiful she was.

He was pretty sure no one had ever taken him by surprise as often as Brittany did every time they were together.

"Puck wants to hang out today during the baby shower," he said before pushing the other side of curtain aside and stepping in behind her.

Standing there behind her, he reached forward and gently grasped her hips. The resulting giggle from her caused him to smile again and dip his head to kiss her wet shoulder.

"We could take a cab together, if you want." She moved her head to look at him before continuing. "They live in an apartment. They won't even realize it." With a shrug of her shoulders, she turned back to grab her shampoo.

He thought over it quickly and nodded even though she couldn't see him.

"Yeah. I don't want to get two cabs just because they don't know." That would feel weird. Actually, he was sure that would feel bad. They weren't keeping their relationship a secret because they were ashamed, and they were supposed to be friends to everyone anyway. "I like that idea, Britt."

He squeezed her hips and pulled away as she turned and tilted her head back to rinse her shampoo out. Reaching forward for a bar of soap, he was glad that among the bottles of fruity stuff, she happened to keep one normal smelling thing.

"You always use the soap," she observed, squeezing some water from her hair and then grabbing a bottle of some kind of scrubby stuff. "This feels nice." From her grin, he could tell she was trying to dare him to use it. Of course he fell for it.

"Where do you use it?"

"Anywhere, everywhere. And it smells good." She poured some into the palm of her hand before spreading it onto one of his shoulders. "See?"

He laughed softly and stood there, content to be there with her, especially when she was softly massaging his shoulder. It didn't really matter what kind of soap he used that day.

=/=

Finn knocked on the door, his hand still wrapped around Brittany's from their walk up. He didn't even think about it until he heard the doorknob and dropped it just in time for Puck to appear on the other side. Puck let out a sigh when he saw him before glancing over at Brittany.

"Hey, guys. Did you see each other downstairs?"

They both nodded slowly (hey, it wasn't a lie) before stepping into the apartment.

This was the moment neither of them brought up on their way over. How did they say bye to each other in front of Puck?

Feeling Brittany's hand on his arm brought him out of his thoughts and he looked down.

"I'll see you later, Finn." She smiled brightly and he could tell that this little moment was exciting her in some way. It was pretty cool to have a secret. It would be cooler if they could somehow sneak away for a kiss. No one would even know.

"Bye, Britt."

Watching her walk over to the rest of the women in the apartment, he tore his gaze away from her to look at his best friend.

"How's Rach? You look kind of worn out."

"She's nesting, man. She made me rearrange the furniture in here 3 times before everyone got here."

His eyes surveyed the room and his features contorted in confusion.

"It looks the same."

"Don't remind me. You ready to go? I need a beer."

With a nod, Finn's eyes traveled back over to Brittany, Rachel, and everyone else.

"I should say hey to Rach. She won't let me live it down if I don't."

Puck snorted before letting him know he was going to slip out while he could. Then Finn walked over and awkwardly made his way over to Rachel.

"Hey," he said with a small smile, reaching forward to hug her quickly. "There's a lot of people here. Kurt here yet?"

"Did I hear my name?"

Turning around, he smiled at the sight of the brother he hadn't seen in weeks.

"I was wondering when you were getting here."

After talking to everyone for about ten minutes, and a much requested visit to Caroline's princess pink bedroom to play a few minutes of tea party with her, he walked out of the apartment and downstairs to meet with Puck. It had been a little weird to stand there with Brittany, wanting nothing more than to tell his brother and friend that they were kind of together. He found that he was itching to tell them.

Pushing the door open, he stepped out onto the sidewalk and found Puck standing against the building.

"Ready?"

"Let's go grab some food."

=/=

"You still seeing the girl?" Puck asked between bites of his burger. The thing was almost gone before he'd even said a word. He probably only ate them when Rachel wasn't around.

Looking up from his half eaten one, he nodded slowly.

"The girl," he said with a nod. "Yeah. We've been on some dates since I told you about her." He could feel himself smiling a bit and he looked down before Puck could notice and ask him for details. Brittany was so much more than just a girl, and he could sit there and talk about their dates, but they'd agreed not to do that just yet.

"That's cool," Puck said a moment later, grabbing his napkin and lazily wiping his hands. "There's this girl Rach knows, though, and she wants to set you up on a blind date. It's some actress she knows and she thinks you'd really hit it off."

The suggestion took Finn by surprise. If Puck knew that he was already seeing a girl, and he had gone on several dates with her, why would he and Rachel think he needed to go on a date with someone else? He briefly wondered if either of them would be bringing up the idea if they knew he was seeing Brittany.

"I can't do that, man," Finn replied. "This girl I'm seeing is great. She's beautiful, gorgeous, and talented, nice, funny." He lifted his shoulders in a shrug before sitting back in his chair. "I want it to work out with her. If I went out with that girl Rach knows, it wouldn't be fair to her."

It wouldn't be fair to either of them, Brittany or the other girl. Wouldn't he be leading her on? He'd made his mistakes in relationships in high school and he refused to do that again.

Puck was staring at him once he finished speaking, furrowing his brow. Then suddenly a broad grin formed on his friend's face.

"You really like her, don't you? I haven't heard you talk about anyone like that in a long time, man." Puck popped a fry into his mouth and Finn took a drink of his beer before nodding.

"Like I said, she's great. Perfect, actually."

"Are you two, like, together or just hanging out?"

Looking down, he pushed a couple of the fries around his plate as he thought about the question.

"I don't know. Kind of both?" Shrugging again, he stuffed a fry into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. He wouldn't mind saying that he was with Brittany, but they hadn't talked about anything that far. "Dating, but I guess we're not exclusive."

He swallowed roughly when that went through his head. It would hurt if Brittany was going out with someone else, but she had every right, didn't she? There were probably tons of people that she met through work, single parents or other dancers, even people in clubs and around the city, and she could easily go out with some of them. It was almost like a pang in his heart just thinking of it.

Puck was looking at him yet again, but this time the other man didn't say a word.

"I hope she's not seeing anyone else," Finn muttered.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes as they both finished up their meals and drinks. There was still some fries and burger on his plate and he noticed Puck give it a glance before a look of understanding passed over his face. Once Puck checked his watch and decided that the baby shower should have been over by then - they did waste about three hours somehow - they both stood from the booth and threw down a couple of dollars each onto the table.

"Maybe you should talk to her, buddy." Puck slapped his shoulder and looked at him pointedly before they headed back toward his and Rachel's apartment.

Yeah. Maybe he needed to do that.

He knew he was falling fast, but he didn't realize how hard until the thought of her with someone else made him feel sick. There was no one else he wanted to be with, that he was completely sure of already. Letting her know didn't feel like a bad idea. It was either talk to her now or get hurt later.


End file.
